A Group of Thousandths
by Sheankelor
Summary: Albus had declared that everyone must attend the New Year's party. Normally Severus doesn't mind, but this year he is sure that no one will want to associate with him. What will Filius, Pomona, and Minerva do? This is a Deal Universe story, but a prequel as it happens in Book 1 PS so the Deal has yet to be made.


_AN: This story is based heavily on Rudyard's Kipling's poem 'The Thousandth Man'. If you have never had the pleasure of reading or hearing (Leslie Fish did an excellent job of putting a lot of Kipling's poems to music) this piece I would highly recommend it. _

_This takes place before the Deal was made, during the PS/SS. It hasn't been beta'ed, so if you see something the is just getting on your nerves, pm me and it'll be handled. _

_Enjoy! Ree_

_A Group of Thousandths_

Severus watched as small groups formed about the room. Settling deeper into his seat, he balanced his barely touched glass on the arm of the chair.

It had been years since he had joined the staff, and each year he had attended the New Year Celebration. This was the one time of the school year that Albus insisted that they all get together to socialize. Even though he wasn't the most social person, far from it in most people's opinion, he appreciated the effort that Albus made on this one day to get his staff to bond together.

The effort had born fruit, maybe small ones, but it was still there. Severus had formed relationships with every member of the staff. Most would not hunt him down for a drink or conversation, but they were not afraid to track him down if they needed potion or had a sticky question about a Defense problem that a student had brought to their attention. They knew that he was more qualified to teach that subject than the others that passed through the post.

Shifting in his seat, Severus watched as Babbling stopped next to Sinistra and they started their normal New Year's debate on if the constellations were actually runes or pictures in the sky. Every year they brought new evidence to back up their side of the argument. He spent a moment eavesdropping, enjoying the spirited conversation. Taking a small sip of his drink, he wondered if anyone was going to approach him, or if it was going to be like his first year teaching. He wouldn't blame them if the small group that used to stop by avoided him. His treatment of Potter and his friends this year had bordered on cruel and unjust, and his favoritism of his own House was markedly up.

His wandering gaze landed on Albus. He was certain that the Headmaster would stop by him sometime tonight to talk, but Severus wasn't sure he wanted to talk to him. It was because Albus was certain that the Dark Lord was coming back, was in fact trying to break into the school to obtain the Stone, that he had to act the way he was. Yes, he was typically scathing and cruel, but his ire was typically well distributed between the houses.

(o.o)

Filius stood on the far side of the room, the robes of his fellow teachers periodically blocking his view. Moving slightly to the left, he caught sight of the Potions Professor once again.

Severus was sitting in what everyone knew was his chair. It didn't matter if the man was not in the room, no one sat there. Filius watched as the dark eyes looked about the room, taking in the groups that were clustered here and there. The thing that stood out was the complete emptiness around the taciturn professor. _'It is like Severus' first year here. No one knows how to approach the unapproachable, and that is what he is. Severus has never been one who was at ease in a social setting. He is a good conversationalist, but he won't approach you.'_ Memories of Severus as a student at Hogwarts mixed with Filius' memories of the years of the man as his colleague.

Moving once again, he caught sight of the mostly full glass in those long thin hands. Severus wasn't one to drink alone, that much Filius had learned early on, and that glass show just how isolated the Potions Master was feeling.

Shifting his gaze, Filius looked over at Albus, wondering once again why the Headmaster had not curbed the newest trend of their Potions Professor. Albus was not known to tolerate favoritism from any of his professors, nor subtle cruelty, both of which had been shown by Severus only this year. _'There has to be a reason. Something that is not being told to us, something we are not to be concerned with.'_

Taking a long drink from his glass, Filius turned his mind once again to the problem that he had been contemplating for half a school year. Why had Severus' attitude change during Potter's first year of school?

The obvious reasons popped up first. Severus' dislike for the boy's father and friends. Most people would stop there, many of the faculty had, but Filius wasn't most people. He had spent too long at this school; taught more groups of crafty plotting students than he could remember. One thing he had learned from all those students was that when a reason was pushed into your face, duck and look again – you'd find the real reason hidden there. Severus wasn't shoving the reason into their face, but he let it dangle there to be taken as bait. No, the reason was deeper, and he was short enough to look below the top layer and find the real reason. What else was different about this school year? Something besides the arrival of Mr. Potter. His eyes widened as he thought of an even larger difference. The Stone was at the school this year, guarded by so many little traps and tricks- a last lines of defense. One that they knew would only buy time for surely if the person hunting it got through the school wards, then there was nothing that they could weave that would stop them. Rumors were that it was _HIM_ , You-Know-Who, that was hunting it.

Pieces fell, numbers added, runic patterns matched, and the kaleidescope turned just enough that Filius questioned his intelligence for not seeing this before. Severus' behavior was not because Potter was here, it was because Malfoy and the others were here _with_ Potter, and hanging over it all was the threat that _HE_ might come back. This game was far deeper than he had imagined, and far more dangerous than he wanted for his friend.

'_A friend? I want to be his friend. No, I want to be the Thousandth Man. That is what Severus' needs. I know that once Severus has sworn friendship he would stand by them to the foot of the gallows and even after with them. That is the type of friend he needs. That means I need to walk over there and show him that I can be there. For to be that type of friend, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, all that matters is what they think. And I think that Severus' is doing all of this for a good reason.'_

Filius walked around Vector and Quirrell doing his best not to wrinkle his nose at the smell coming from the turban that the Defense Professor had started wearing. After dodging through the groups that were huddled about he eventually made it to the quiet zone around Severus.

Holding his drink carefully, he settled into the armchair that was to the left of Severus' and then charmed it to rise higher. "Good evening, Severus." He nodded over towards Babbling and Sinistra. "Have they come up with anything new that is interesting?"

Filius smiled at the quick flash of surprise and gratitude that appeared in Severus' expression. He had decided on the walk over there that he would not make a big deal out of how Severus' was acting this year. It didn't matter. Severus had to have a reason, one that he wasn't privy to, but a reason none the less. Instead he would open the conversation with a question that he knew they could both talk about.

"Filius, you and I both know that they exhausted all credible sources for their argument my third year teaching. Sinistra was just quoting Battericks Bullfrog and Babbling countered with Astoria Maple." Severus quirked up the edges of his mouth as he took in Filius' face as he tried not to laugh out loud. Both of them knew that those two particular people used to write for papers worse than the Quibbler in the late eighteen hundreds.

Severus took a sip from his drink before continuing. "On a more serious note, do you have any clue what is happened to Quirenus? I was hoping that since he was taking over the defense position that we would have someone competent."

Filius felt the mirth fade as he thought about their former Muggle Studies Professor. He had had high hopes as well. The man was a Ravenclaw and had show some skill, at least a solid book learned foundation, with his new subject. "I don't know. He was traveling about the Mediterranean area to gain some experience in the field and -" He trailed off not knowing what else to say.

Severus nodded as he glanced at Albus. Could Quirenus be there to be protect from a stupid mistake as well? "I wonder if something happened that scared him so much that he is afraid of his subject."

(o.o)

Minerva caught sight of Filius as he laughed hard, almost rocking off his chair. Blinking, she was surprised to see him sitting with Severus. _'Why am I surprised? Every year he takes a moment and sits with Severus. He has since Severus' first party. The question should be why am I not there. I've also stopped by his chair since the first one.'_

Kettleburn grinned and laughed at something that Hagrid commented on. Minerva shook her head while smiling and stepped out of the conversation. She just wasn't that interested in what creatures were in the Forbidden Forest, at least not as interested as those two.

When her steps started taking her to where Severus and Filius were sitting, her thoughts turned back to her question. She knew why she was surprised that Filius was with him. Filius was known to be scrupulous about being fair, and this year Severus wasn't. There had to be something that she wasn't seeing, something that would pull Filius to Severus' side. _'Severus is taciturn, dark and sarcastic.'_ She scoffed at the voice in her head. _'Yes, he is, but he will be with you anywhere sink or swim if you let him.' _ She thought of the friendship between Severus and Lily and how he did everything he could to repair it. She seriously doubted that he ever gave up. _'Even if you don't let him. You just might not realize that he in the same water as you.' _

Her steps stopped for a moment as her eyes widened. Severus was with them just as he had always been once he learned from his mistake. But that mistake... that is what let him become a spy. Surely Albus wasn't expecting Severus to try to take that route again. _'If I know that he sticks with you through thick and thin, then so does You-Know-Who, which means there is a chance, but only if he is seen acting...'_ She continued towards the group of chairs. Severus wasn't going to walk back into the nest of vipers without a friend to watch his back, without someone who he could talk to and not worry about a thing.

She settled into the seat to Severus' right and dropped her hat onto the arm table between them. She could tell that both men knew her well enough to understand her message. She wasn't going anywhere.

Filius smiled at her. "Just the person we needed."

Minerva tipped her head to the side while she asked, "What am I needed for?"

It was Severus who answered the question. "We were discussing fireworks. Filius knows the charms to make the light display, but neither of us knows if a transfigured firework would explode."

"It all depends on who transfigures it." Minerva smiled as she settled back into her chair. "Or rather, how well it was done."

"What is the most important part of the transfiguration?" Filius knew his smile might been taken as pleasure in the conversation, but it was truly because Minerva wasn't deserting Severus either.

"I still think it is the ingredients that are in the firework. They are what make the color and the ability to explode." Severus watched Minerva's face to see how she would react to his answer, almost feeling like he was in her class once again.

"You are right, Severus. But you also have to have the right container or it won't shoot up in the air." Minerva watched both of her companions, waiting to hear their response. This was the conversation she had been missing all evening.

(o.o)

Pomona looked about the room attempting to find a legitimate reason to leave Binns and the stories she heard every year. Her gaze landed on tableau near the fireplace. Each person sitting there in those chairs looked frozen in time. Minerva looked happy about something, Filius looked as if he was learning something new, and Severus he looked like he always did except there was a bit of openness in his body language.

"Excuse me, Binns." She nodded to the ghost and walked away, her gaze still locked on the now moving group even as her mind tried to think of why Severus wasn't still sitting by himself.

Severus had slowly been ostracized over the school year. It started when the rumor hit the mill about Potter's first Potions class and now it was to the point where no one wanted to talk to Severus in the hall or at meals. _'So, why are they there?' _ Her steps slowed as she contemplated the question. _'Severus... he is acting strange this year. I mean really strange. Normally he is someone who would hand you whatever you needed and never asked for it back... or he never asked me for anything back. Of course, it was after he found that I didn't mind him borrowing whatever he needed from the greenhouses. Maybe that is it. We know that it's covered, so it wasn't a big deal, an issue that didn't need to be broached. I wonder if this is also an issue that isn't supposed to be broached.'_

Her steps turned towards the group, a new cup in her hands, her mind feeling as if she was almost at the end of her mental quest. _'Thick or thin, right or wrong- Severus always has your back. Whether it is with a student giving you grief or with another Professor who thinks they know better than you.'_

She remember a particular sticky confrontation with the Defense Professor last year. The man had tried to take over one of her greenhouses for a Defense Practical without asking her. Severus had been there gathering something, she didn't even remember what, but she remember the Defense Professor fleeing before the menacing glare when he had tried to dismiss her. Of course the knife Severus had been holding so competently didn't hurt either. A smile curled her mouth as she remembered that sight. Severus never asked if she had given permission or not, he had just acted.

Shaking the memory out of her head, she decided that whatever the reason Severus was acting strange for this year didn't matter. What mattered was that he was her friend and she wasn't going to ignore him.

Dropping into the empty chair, she caught sight of a pile of what looked like roman candles sitting on the floor near Minerva's feet. "So, what are we blowing up?"

Her laughter rang throughout the room as three shocked looks were directed her way. Admittedly, Severus was mostly hidden, but she could still pick it out.

It was Severus who answered her. "Nothing if we can not come to a consensus on how to remove the smoke from the room in the next fifteen minutes. I think we should use the charm that clears the air in a Potions classroom."

Filius sighed and shook his head. "No, an air moving charm that causes it to blow out the window."

Pomona's brow creased as she thought. "Neither. Minerva, we can transfigure the smoke into something, can't we?"

Minerva eyes lit up as she nodded. "Yes, we can."

Severus and Filius looked at each other and then gave in.

The group spent the next ten minutes deciding on just what to make the smoke.

(o.o)

Severus slowly made his way down to his quarters. He had promised to send a hangover cure to Minerva, Pomona and Filius. He would wait to see who else came by since he had brewed enough yesterday for the entire faculty and staff. Except Albus' - the delivery of his was a given.

Thinking of Albus reminded him of the Headmaster's face as the fireworks had flown up to the ceiling and exploded showering people with a multitude of sparks as dragons, fairies, and other magical creatures had flooded the room. The smoke trails had changed into glowing stars that spelled out Happy New Year. _'Hagrid and Kettleburn did their best to examine the creatures as they flew about.'_

Stepping into his quarters, he shut the door and leaned against it. He had gone to the party knowing that he was going to be excluded. People didn't stand by you when things are bad, he learned that a long time ago. This was especially so when they had no clue just why you were acting the way you were. Tonight he learned something else. There were those few that would stick with you no matter what.

Crossing over to his bookshelf he pulled out his worn copy of Kipling and flipped to the poem that was tickling the edge of his mind - _The Thousandth Man. _ As he skimmed the words a true smile graced his face. He had to count himself luck, for somehow he had found three friends that met the description of the Thousandth Man instead of just one.


End file.
